The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-04-20
"A BANK OF BILLIONS.
III" Fabulous Wealth of tho Bank of
ist"rical Sketch OF a Stupcnd-
Gus Financial Institutions

Tho Fabulous Wealth of the Bank o
france---iIistn nrical sketch OF a Sturcnd
Gus Financial Institution.
a lew evenings ago, says the Baroncs,
Salvador, | attended u most intcrestino
reception III tho Partisan world--a rcccn
ton where few foreigners arc ever nd.
mitted. 1t was given by NJ. Magnin,
governor Of the Bank of France, on thC
occasion of the eighty-seventh anniycr.
sary of the institution. During the eve.
ming gathered much information, and
as 1T has nevor been published, my
American friends may find few notes
OF value. Ater many trials and failures.
the great Bank of France was born with
the ninetconth century. IN the begin
nlng ITS capital was 10000, 600 francs.
represented by 10000 shares of 1000
francs each, and its shareholders were
Napoieon Bonapartc, IA!cien Bonaparto,
Hortense dc Bcauhnrnais, Cambaccrcs,
Duroc and others less noted Its tenn
porary homo was the Hotel AIassiac, in
the Place dcs Victories. In 1867 it's
capital vas increased to IS2, 800 600
francs. Many special laws have been
enacted giving privileges to this bank
until Decomber 81, 1879, privileges re-
Movable after that date. Tho bEildino
occupied by the Bank of France at the
present time has great Importance. II
IS an irregular quadrilatcral building.
surrounded by tho Rues Croix dcs pctits
Changes, &c IN Yrillierc, Bnihlr ct Rad
2iwcll. The public has entire confidence
III the bank, and TO merit this confidence
great precautions have been taken to
render private as well as public property
safe. The fire brigade, composcd Gf
firemen who once belonged to the rcsgi-
mcnt of Paris, has apartments in the
building; under one roof are plLccd two
immense reservoirs, and sixty armorics
contain lanccs ready TO throw lets of
water Aside from the tiremcn no night
watchmcn are employed. The Hotel dc
la Nrllicrc, occupied to-day by the
Bank OF France, was built in 1875, after
the designs of Francois NIansard. The
building is generally known under the
name OF Hotel do Toulouse, because il
was brought in lTl3 by Louis Alcxandrc
de Bourbon, Chmte dc Toulouse, second
son OF Louis XIV. and Nine. doMontcs-
pan. The Due dc Ponthieon, who was
the son of tho Comtc dc Toulouse en-
bcllishcd the hotel and gave it its nomo.
When he died in 1893, the building was
declared national property, and there
the national printing house was in
stalled. In 1903 the Emperor made n
decree that the Hotel de Toulouse should
become the property of the bank for
1000, 900 francs, but it was in lSl that
the corporation removed from the Hotel
Massiac. Popular tradition gives the
vaults and the fOrbicatiOn and dcstruc-
ton of bank notes in the Banquo dc
France o profoundly mysterious rcputa-
ton. The vaults, locked, rclockud aud
locked again, arc never seen except hy
the guardians, but by special permission
the precious DllCts wcro exhibited to
me. In the beginning bank notes were
black, but this color is too easily photo.
graphcd. In 1862 blue was chosen
They are all blue with the exception of
the note Of 5000 francs, created in 1910,
which was red. Never more than 400
cuttings Of this note was made, and Of
these there are but five in circulation at
The figures printed on the
notes are their means of Identification,
and the combinations are so uums ruus
that each note has its own mark. \
note passes through twenty-thrca opera
tlOnS from the time it is first engraved
until the signature of the first cashier is
placed upon it. The surveillance is so
severe that wOrkipgmcn cannot take
even clipping of paper. Altcr each
impression, women are employed to
count and recount the papers and place
them in packages of 200. The color
of the blue ink is unchangable and lis
is secret. These notes
leave the bank crisp and bright to re-
turn in less than two years torn, soilcd
and often altogether illegiblc having
made the tour of Franco, and perhaps OF
the world. AS they are brought back
and Judged unworthy for use, after
many formalities they arc destroyed in
the presence of the regents. At one time
the worthless notes were burned, but
now they are reduced to paste two
enormous cylinders receive the notes.
Water is poured upon this mass, the
oritice of the cylinder closed and sealed
and the whole is cooked forty eight
hours. a very fine blue paste is the re-
suit, and this is sold by weight for the
of pasteboard. Tho notes
in circulation at this moment represent
5000, 600, 600 francs, and since its crca-
ton the bank has issued 35, 100000, 1000
The governor of the Bank OF France
is M. Nlagnin, faithful representative
Of the government presided over 10y NJ.
jules Greyy, and himself vice-president
of tho Senate. The general council is
OF two Acknowledgements,
three honorary ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and
fifteen regents, among these Baron
Alphonse de Rothschild, and Baron Hot
tinguer, all chiefs of great French bank
ing-houses. Several times has the Bank
of Franco been in n position to render
service to the government; once in 1871,
at the close of the Franco -Prussian war,
it made the Republic loan of several
hundred millions. The shares OF 800
francs are quoted at the Bourso 1900,
and during the last few weeks, when
stock fell far below par because of the
rumors of wax, those of the Bank of
France werercduccd to only 4, ,525 francs.